“Something rare happened this year: the best American film releases – Moonlight, La La Land, and Arrival – were also the most beautiful.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
This Celebrity Reporter ‘Was This Little Island Of Sanity At Every Red Carpet’ – So Why Did He Jump Off A Roof?
“Jeffrey Slonim didn’t shout. While the other red carpet reporters tried to get the attention of celebrities by yelling their names, he usually waited for them to come to him. And they usually did.”
Watch This Cartoon Explain The Physics Behind The 32 Fouettés In ‘Swan Lake’
“Literally meaning ‘whipped’ or ‘whisked,’ the move is comprised of 32 consecutive turns on one pointed foot. If it sounds impossible, it’s because it almost is. So much so, that this video has been made to explain the physics of it.”
Recovering The Acoustics Of Hagia Sophia’s Byzantine Glory Days
“Collaborating with choral group Cappella Romana, [scientists at Stanford] digitally recreated the former holy building’s acoustics … in the university’s Bing Concert Hall.” (includes video)
‘The Opening Of The Blacksonian Is *The* Museum Event Of The Year’
“Yes, ‘the Blacksonian,’ because no one is going say that whole name” – the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture – “and no one’s going to say ‘NMAAHC,’ either, because no one wants to hear ‘God bless you’ every time somebody does.” Wesley Morris, after throwing his bits of shade, describes the experience, both ridiculous and sublime, of his first visit.”
García Lorca’s Unfinished Final Play Now Has A Title And An Ending
Until now, the piece had only been referred to as “Play Without a Title, and the poet/playwright had completed the first of its planned three acts when he was murdered in the Spanish Civil War. Writer Alberto Conejero has now completed those two acts – and given the work a rather loaded title.
There’s Another Most-_________ Artistic Material That Only Anish Kapoor Is Forbidden To Buy
This one is (allegedly) the world’s most glittery glitter, it’s called Diamond Dust, and it’s created by the same artist who created the world’s pinkest pink – and barred Anish Kapoor from using it, too. (All because of that damned blacker-than-black.)
Richard Adams, 96, Author Of ‘Watership Down’
“Adams famously carved out one of the greatest second-acts in literary history, establishing himself as an important talent at age 52 after a career spent in civil service.”
So What Exactly Is (And Isn’t) The Alexandrov Ensemble, Whose Members Died In That Plane Crash?
For a start, it’s not the group that sang Pharrell’s “Happy” and the theme from Skyfall on YouTube. (That group is the successor to the KGB’s house choir.) The Alexandrov is altogether more prestigious. An explainer from Zachary Woolfe and Bolshoi Confidential author Simon Morrison.
‘They Come In To Dance And Leave Their Parkinson’s Behind’
A visit to the dance classes that the popular British company Ballet Boyz offers for patients with the neurological disorder.